Small businesses need support all year

4:38 AM,
Nov. 29, 2013

Lauren Plunk

Written by

Lauren Plunk

As we all know, Thanksgiving weekend marks the unofficial start to the Christmas shopping season. First, there's the day after Thanksgiving, nicknamed Black Friday. The following Monday is now known as Cyber Monday, a day when online shopping is encouraged. And between these two days is "Small Business Saturday," when people are encouraged to shop at small businesses.

As Tennessee's small-business advocate, it should be no surprise that I encourage people to "shop small" on Small Business Saturday. Over the past several years, sales at small businesses throughout the country have ...